Condition

Lower respiratory infections

Clinical trials and treatment information for Lower respiratory infections

7.6M

People Affected

300

Active Trials

450M

New Cases/Year

2.2M

Deaths/Year

Treatment Rankings

Ranked by evidence volume first. Medicine has spent centuries ranking things by vibes. This is an improvement.

Amoxicillin/Clavulanate

88% Effectiveness• 90% Confidence• 70% Safety• 1 trials• 100K participants

HIGH EvidenceExcellent ValueDose: 875 mg/125 mg twice daily

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Comparative Safety Scale(Higher is safer)

Cyanide☠️

Meth💀

Cigarettes🚬

Chemo☢️

Alcohol🍺

Morphine💊

Antibiotics💉

Tylenol💊

Exercise🏃

Water💧

DangerousModerateSafe

Time to Effect

1-2 days

Duration

7-10 days

Response Rate

90%

Remission Rate

85%

Number Needed to Treat (NNT)

Number Needed to Harm (NNH)

Common Side Effects:

Diarrhea: 12%

Nausea/vomiting: 6%

Rash: 2%

Hepatotoxicity: 0.05%

Annual Cost of Care

Drug Cost

$45

Monitoring

$250

Side Effects

$10

Total Annual

$305

Cost-Effectiveness

EXCELLENT

QALYs Gained

0.09

ICER

$25,000/QALY

Cost per Remission

$358.82

Cost per Responder

$338.89

Treatment Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Body Temperature38.5 °C

-3.9% (-1.5 °C)

Cough Severity ScoreCough Severity Score (0-5 scale): 4

-75% (-3 points)

Dyspnea Severity ScoremMRC Dyspnea Scale: 2

-50% (-1 point)

C-Reactive Protein (CRP)80 mg/L

-75% (-60 mg/L)

Secondary Benefits

White Blood Cell (WBC) Count15,000 cells/µL

-46.7% (-7,000 cells/µL)

Patient Global Assessment of Well-beingWell-being VAS (0-100): 40

+75% (+30 points)

Sputum Production SeveritySputum Production (0-5 scale): 3

-66.7% (-2 points)

Common Side Effects

Diarrhea

+12%

Nausea/vomiting

+6%

Rash

+2%

Clinical Trial Phases:

Phase 4

Amoxicillin

85% Effectiveness• 90% Confidence• 70% Safety• 1 trials• 200K participants

HIGH EvidenceExcellent ValueDose: 500 mg - 1 g three times daily

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Comparative Safety Scale(Higher is safer)

Cyanide☠️

Meth💀

Cigarettes🚬

Chemo☢️

Alcohol🍺

Morphine💊

Antibiotics💉

Tylenol💊

Exercise🏃

Water💧

DangerousModerateSafe

Time to Effect

1-2 days

Duration

5-7 days

Response Rate

85%

Remission Rate

80%

Number Needed to Treat (NNT)

Number Needed to Harm (NNH)

Common Side Effects:

Diarrhea: 7%

Nausea/vomiting: 3%

Rash: 2%

Allergic reaction: 0.05%

Annual Cost of Care

Drug Cost

$15

Monitoring

$250

Side Effects

Total Annual

$270

Cost-Effectiveness

EXCELLENT

QALYs Gained

0.08

ICER

$15,000/QALY

Cost per Remission

$337.5

Cost per Responder

$317.65

Treatment Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Lower Respiratory Infection Symptom Score (LRTI-SS)LRTI-SS: 12/20 (higher score indicates worse symptoms)

-75% (-9 points)

Duration of Fever (>38°C)Average 4 days

-50% (-2 days)

C-Reactive Protein (CRP)60 mg/L (elevated due to infection)

-75% (-45 mg/L)

Secondary Benefits

Days of Restricted Activity7 days

-57.1% (-4 days)

Need for Rescue Antibiotics15% of patients (e.g., in a control group)

-66.7% (-10 percentage points (from 15% to 5%))

Hospitalization Rate due to LRTI8% of patients (e.g., in a control group)

-62.5% (-5 percentage points (from 8% to 3%))

Common Side Effects

Diarrhea

+7%

Nausea/vomiting

+3%

Rash

+2%

Clinical Trial Phases:

Phase 4

Azithromycin

85% Effectiveness• 88% Confidence• 70% Safety• 6 trials• 150K participants

HIGH EvidenceExcellent ValueDose: 500 mg Day 1, then 250 mg daily for 4 days

Find Trials

Comparative Safety Scale(Higher is safer)

Cyanide☠️

Meth💀

Cigarettes🚬

Chemo☢️

Alcohol🍺

Morphine💊

Antibiotics💉

Tylenol💊

Exercise🏃

Water💧

DangerousModerateSafe

Time to Effect

1-2 days

Duration

3-5 days

Response Rate

85%

Remission Rate

80%

Number Needed to Treat (NNT)

Number Needed to Harm (NNH)

Common Side Effects:

Diarrhea: 6%

Nausea/vomiting: 5%

Abdominal pain: 4%

QT prolongation: 0.05%

Annual Cost of Care

Drug Cost

$30

Monitoring

$250

Side Effects

Total Annual

$285

Cost-Effectiveness

EXCELLENT

QALYs Gained

0.08

ICER

$20,000/QALY

Cost per Remission

$356.25

Cost per Responder

$335.29

Treatment Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Respiratory Symptom Severity Score7.0/10 (0-10 scale, 10=worst symptoms)

-45% (-3.15 points)

Body Temperature101.5 °F (38.6 °C)

-2.85% (-2.9 °F (-1.6 °C))

Cough Severity Score6.5/10 (0-10 Visual Analogue Scale)

-50% (-3.25 points)

Secondary Benefits

Sleep Disturbance Score7.0/10 (0-10 scale, 10=severe disturbance)

-40% (-2.8 points)

Activity Limitation Score6.0/10 (0-10 scale, 10=severely limited)

-35% (-2.1 points)

Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) Score40/100 (SF-36 Physical Component Summary, lower is worse)

+15% (+6 points)

Common Side Effects

Diarrhea

+6%

Nausea/vomiting

+5%

Abdominal pain

+4%

Clinical Trial Phases:

Phase 4

Doxycycline

80% Effectiveness• 85% Confidence• 70% Safety• 300 trials• 100K participants

HIGH EvidenceExcellent ValueDose: 100 mg twice daily

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Comparative Safety Scale(Higher is safer)

Cyanide☠️

Meth💀

Cigarettes🚬

Chemo☢️

Alcohol🍺

Morphine💊

Antibiotics💉

Tylenol💊

Exercise🏃

Water💧

DangerousModerateSafe

Time to Effect

1-2 days

Duration

7-10 days

Response Rate

80%

Remission Rate

75%

Number Needed to Treat (NNT)

Number Needed to Harm (NNH)

Common Side Effects:

Photosensitivity: 8.5%

Esophageal irritation: 6.5%

Nausea/vomiting/diarrhea: 7.5%

Annual Cost of Care

Drug Cost

$20

Monitoring

$250

Side Effects

$10

Total Annual

$280

Cost-Effectiveness

EXCELLENT

QALYs Gained

0.07

ICER

$18,000/QALY

Cost per Remission

$373.33

Cost per Responder

$350

Treatment Outcomes

Efficacy Outcomes

Overall Effectiveness

+80%

Response Rate

+80%

Remission Rate

+75%

Common Side Effects

Photosensitivity

+8.5%

Esophageal irritation

+6.5%

Nausea/vomiting/diarrhea

+7.5%

Clinical Trial Phases:

Phase 4

Oseltamivir

75% Effectiveness• 85% Confidence• 65% Safety• 4 trials• 50K participants

HIGH EvidenceGood ValueDose: 75 mg twice daily

Find Trials

Comparative Safety Scale(Higher is safer)

Cyanide☠️

Meth💀

Cigarettes🚬

Chemo☢️

Alcohol🍺

Morphine💊

Antibiotics💉

Tylenol💊

Exercise🏃

Water💧

DangerousModerateSafe

Time to Effect

1-2 days

Duration

5 days

Response Rate

65%

Remission Rate

25%

Number Needed to Treat (NNT)

Number Needed to Harm (NNH)

Common Side Effects:

Nausea/vomiting: 12.5%

Headache: 2.5%

Neuropsychiatric events: 0.05%

Annual Cost of Care

Drug Cost

$75

Monitoring

$150

Side Effects

Total Annual

$230

Cost-Effectiveness

GOOD

QALYs Gained

0.03

ICER

$75,000/QALY

Cost per Remission

$920

Cost per Responder

$353.85

Treatment Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Time to alleviation of overall influenza symptoms (LRTI focus)6.5 days

-23.1% (-1.5 days)

Duration of fever3.0 days

-16.7% (-0.5 days)

Incidence of influenza-related pneumonia requiring antibiotics10% of patients

-50% (-5 percentage points)

Overall Influenza Symptom Severity Score (VAS 0-100)60 points

-15% (-9 points)

Secondary Benefits

Hospitalization due to influenza2.5% of patients

-40% (-1 percentage point)

Prescription of antibiotics for secondary bacterial infections18% of patients

-27.8% (-5 percentage points)

Time to return to usual daily activities9 days

-22.2% (-2 days)

Common Side Effects

Nausea/vomiting

+12.5%

Headache

+2.5%

Neuropsychiatric events

+0.05%

Clinical Trial Phases:

Phase 4